Graphite nanoplatelets have recently attracted considerable attention as a viable and inexpensive filler substitute for carbon nanotubes in nanocomposites, given the predicted excellent in-plane mechanical, structural, thermal, and electrical properties of graphite. Graphite nanoplatelets in the form of graphene sheets are now known and each comprises a one-atom thick, two dimensional layer of carbon atoms. Graphene layers or sheets are predicted to exhibit a range of possible advantageous properties such as high thermal conductivity, mechanical stiffness and electronic transport that rival the remarkable in-plane, like-properties of bulk graphite.
One possible route to harnessing these properties for potential applications would be to incorporate graphene sheets in a homogeneous distribution in a composite material. As with carbon nanotubes, however, utilization of graphite nanoplatelets in the form of graphene sheets in polymer nanocomposite applications and other applications will in all likelihood depend on the ability to achieve complete dispersion of the nanoplatelets in a solvent employed to dissolve polymers that eventually form a polymer matrix when the solvent is subsequently removed.